Traditional Rulers and Local Government Administration in Nigeria: A Historicisation

Abstract

Local government administration in Nigeria predates the country’s formal flag independence. Following the conquest and annexation of Lagos in 1861 and the subsequent expansion of British political and economic interests to other parts of what later became Nigeria, the British were able to establish a colonial state in those areas. The expansion and consolidation of British rule involved the introduction of a local government system that imposed British colonial officials over indigenous traditional rulers. Hiding under the veil of ‘advisers’ to the traditional rulers, these colonial officials supervised the collection of taxes for the government. Before independence in 1960, the colonial governments in the different regions had, between 1950 and 1960, also taken took steps to replace the Native Authority System with new local government structures. The then Northern Region was the exception. It was in 1976 that a unified local government system was introduced to become operative in all parts of the country. In all the changes and innovations in local government administration, the role of traditional rulers was never lost to the government. Thus, under the regional governments, they were duly acknowledged and provisions made for them in the legislative houses. Since 1979, however, traditional rulers have been denied any statutory roles in the in the constitutions, though the various state governments have found accommodation for them in local government administration. This is in itself an acceptance of their important role in mobilising grassroots support for governments’ programmes and projects.

Keywords: Colonial, Constitution, Grassroots, Legislative, Reforms, Regions, Rulers, Traditional.